Frodo continued tramping in the woods.
But he was getting more and more tired and as he looked around, he decided he needed to find a place to rest. His stomach pain seemed to have tapered off once more, for which he was grateful.
Coming upon a stand of hawthorn bushes, he decided it would do as a place he could curl up and go to sleep.
Wearily the little hobbit was just about to toss his rucksack under the branches, when he heard faint singing again. And once again, in Elvish? The unusual sound of the ancient language made him forget briefly his stomach troubles.
The singing seemed to call to him and smiling slightly through his tears, Frodo moved on into the woods, entranced by the melody.
He was getting tired of being slapped in the face from branches he could not see in the dark, when he realized that the singing had stopped. Peering around himself, he could not determine where he was and began to get afraid.
Quivering, slightly chilled, Frodo was encouraged when he saw the faint glow of light ahead! Perhaps some one's camp, or a cottage! He crept closer.
It took the child several minutes to reach the source of the light And what he saw made him forget briefly his pains.
They were elves!
Brushing through the dark shaggy shapes of bushes, Frodo felt his stomach recoil again. He fell to his knees and painfully rubbing his skinned knee into the dried leaves, tossed up his stomach contents. He dropped to his side, in agony now and tried swallowing the awful taste in his mouth as he hugged his stomach.
Frodo wanted to lie down right there and have a good cry, but then the elves would hear him and.....
The bushes parted and a soft light fell on the hobbit child's face and he blinked, frightened.
An elf holding a lantern, knelt at the little one's side, immediately perceiving his distress. Placing the lantern on the ground, the elf turned and said something in Elvish over his shoulder and was quickly joined by another elf.
Frodo dizzily sat up with the one elf's help and rubbed a hand across his face. "I-I am sorry, sir elf. I am not feeling well..."
Just then a third elf joined them. He too was tall and dark-haired, and as the other two parted with a slight bow, to make way for him, Frodo noticed how kind his eyes were, glittering in the lantern light. The elf knelt down and said, "A halfling child! Little one, what are you doing out here in the woods at this hour?"
"I-I am running away because my Uncle Bilbo does not want me anymore. He says I am "diseased," and---"
"Bilbo? Bilbo Baggins of Bag End?"
"Yes, he is my uncle. I am Frodo. We are here for the fair...." Another stomach cramp hit Frodo just then and he bent over in pain, tears clouding his eyes.
Frodo gasped as the tall elf picked him up gently, saying, "I am Elrond, young Frodo. Let us get you inside where I can more easily determine what is wrong, all right?"
Frodo nodded mutely as he was brought into a beautiful white pavilion where a table, two chairs sat and several woven rugs were spread. The two elves followed behind the dark-haired elf and quickly cleared the table of dishes. The one candelabra was lit and fresh candles put to the side.
Alarmed at the pale and sweating face of the young hobbit, Elrond lay him on the table to make it easier to examine him.
Another of the elves brought a cushion for Frodo's head and gently took his rucksack and his new brown velveteen jacket.
Elrond bent over the child with a warm smile, his long almost black hair hung in sleek curtains on either side of his beautiful face. "Where does it hurt, little one?"
Frodo moved uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny of the elf lord "My stomach! It has hurt, well since this morning after elevenses. I think I ate too much candy. But, but it does not get any better. It really hurts!! I-I have thrown up already, twice." he added, embarrassed.
The elf lord, in the meantime, had been undoing the youngster's clothing.
Exposing his stomach, Frodo shivered as the cool air hit his skin unexpectedly and Elrond pressed gently with pads of his long slender fingers in several areas. He paused and undid the buttons of Frodo's knickers and gently pulled them down around the child's hips. He continued his examination, his face, serious in its concentration. Frodo, dismayed by having his knickers down started to cry. It reminded him of a particularly bad afternoon when some hobbit children had bullied him into a corner and done the same thing, taunting him mercilessly about being an orphan and wearing hand-me-downs. And they had been his favorite knickers too.
Elrond paused a moment and saw the child's distress. His voice full of warmth, he said, bringing a hand up to wipe away the tears, "I am almost done little one. Do not worry!"
When he got to the lower right quadrant of his abdomen and pressed there, Frodo screamed and began to cry harder. The sharp pain was terrible!
Elrond softly brushed the Frodo's hair off his clammy face. Turning to one of the chairs, he pulled off his folded cape and carefully tucked it around the diminutive form.
" I have to make some preparations little Frodo." He lay his hand on the hobbit's forehead and Frodo found himself relaxing suddenly, and felt as if he was drifting into sleep.
Elrond sighed and went to his chest of medical supplies that one of his companions had brought in. The hobbit's illness was easily explained.
It was appendicitis and would need immediate surgery.
Frodo stirred from his half sleep, when he felt cold air on his skin again. Gentle hands straightened his limbs. Frodo woke further when his head was lifted and he was given sweet, thick syrup to drink. Like all medicines, it tasted strange and he made a face at the flavor. Elrond smiled at the hobbits expression as he put the goblet aside. The elf lord carefully lifted the small one as one of the other elves, pulled the cape off the table and lay several more table clothes atop the one already there. Frodo shivered though he was held closely in the elf lord's arms against his chest.
He was laid back down and Elrond's assistant took off all of Frodo's clothes being mindful of not jostling him. As he was being undressed, Elrond pulled out his satinwood box of surgical implements and selected the scalpel he needed. He also lay out bottles of antiseptic tinctures, bandages and suturing thread and needles.
Frodo, slowly succumbing to the medication he had been given, was uncomfortable lying naked under the clinical scrutiny of the healer.
As he lay there, he began to feel very strange and woolly-headed. He moved his head side-to-side trying to focus on the face of Elrond.
"It is all right little one." Elrond caught Frodo's wandering eyes with his intense grey ones, bright as stars as he stilled the moving head between his slender healer's hands. " The syrup will make you sleep deeply and relax the muscles." He lay a hand again softly on where the pain was worst. He left his hand there for a minute, until Frodo realized he could not feel it, even though he could feel increasing pressure as the elf lord bore down testing for pain.
With a sigh, Frodo succumbed to the concoction whose basis was syrup of poppy and his head rolled to the side, as he fell deeply asleep.
Elrond placed his hand on his forehead once more, to seal him in dreamless slumber.
The elf lord, wearing a long robe, split up the sides for riding, pulled off the outer jerkin to be more comfortable and stood eyeing his patient in dark rose colored trews and a long sleeved grey silk shirt whose sleeves he rolled up above his elbows.
Looking at the elf standing near him with a handful of cloths to dab up the blood to make sure he was ready to assist, Elrond bent over Frodo and began.
Making a sure deep incision through the abdominal wall in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen, Elrond moved to the side, as the assistant calmly laid absorbent cloths to catch the blood. Pulling aside the muscle wall he worked up carefully the end of the large intestine to the surface with its little bit of flesh that was the infected appendix, which he then sliced neatly off.
The assistant took the offending piece of flesh and quickly went and threw it in the fire outside while Elrond took over removing and placing fresh cloths around the wound bleeding freely. Some he dipped into the body cavity to keep that free of blood as well. He also utilized one of his antiseptic tinctures and carefully bathed the small incision. When the assistant returned, he took over, allowing Elrond to thread his needle for suturing.
He used a very small thread for sewing up the end of the large intestine and when he finished with that, he used a thicker thread to carefully sew up the abdominal incision, stitching neatly as he might, to leave Frodo as little a scar as possible.
Once the blood was cleaned off, Elrond gently dabbed antiseptic tincture around the wound and soaked a pad, which he then placed over the stitches. With the help of his assistant, he bandaged the pad in place with several strips of clean linen. Before he put away his supplies, he cleaned and bandaged Frodo's scraped knee as well. When all was done and the signs of surgery cleaned up and put away, Elrond stood looking down at the sleeping hobbit. Laying a hand over the wound, he sent energy deep into the tissue to speed the healing.
Checking Frodo's pulse and respiration and satisfied with their levels, he covered the child and went to wash up himself.
But he was getting more and more tired and as he looked around, he decided he needed to find a place to rest. His stomach pain seemed to have tapered off once more, for which he was grateful.
Coming upon a stand of hawthorn bushes, he decided it would do as a place he could curl up and go to sleep.
Wearily the little hobbit was just about to toss his rucksack under the branches, when he heard faint singing again. And once again, in Elvish? The unusual sound of the ancient language made him forget briefly his stomach troubles.
The singing seemed to call to him and smiling slightly through his tears, Frodo moved on into the woods, entranced by the melody.
He was getting tired of being slapped in the face from branches he could not see in the dark, when he realized that the singing had stopped. Peering around himself, he could not determine where he was and began to get afraid.
Quivering, slightly chilled, Frodo was encouraged when he saw the faint glow of light ahead! Perhaps some one's camp, or a cottage! He crept closer.
It took the child several minutes to reach the source of the light And what he saw made him forget briefly his pains.
They were elves!
Brushing through the dark shaggy shapes of bushes, Frodo felt his stomach recoil again. He fell to his knees and painfully rubbing his skinned knee into the dried leaves, tossed up his stomach contents. He dropped to his side, in agony now and tried swallowing the awful taste in his mouth as he hugged his stomach.
Frodo wanted to lie down right there and have a good cry, but then the elves would hear him and.....
The bushes parted and a soft light fell on the hobbit child's face and he blinked, frightened.
An elf holding a lantern, knelt at the little one's side, immediately perceiving his distress. Placing the lantern on the ground, the elf turned and said something in Elvish over his shoulder and was quickly joined by another elf.
Frodo dizzily sat up with the one elf's help and rubbed a hand across his face. "I-I am sorry, sir elf. I am not feeling well..."
Just then a third elf joined them. He too was tall and dark-haired, and as the other two parted with a slight bow, to make way for him, Frodo noticed how kind his eyes were, glittering in the lantern light. The elf knelt down and said, "A halfling child! Little one, what are you doing out here in the woods at this hour?"
"I-I am running away because my Uncle Bilbo does not want me anymore. He says I am "diseased," and---"
"Bilbo? Bilbo Baggins of Bag End?"
"Yes, he is my uncle. I am Frodo. We are here for the fair...." Another stomach cramp hit Frodo just then and he bent over in pain, tears clouding his eyes.
Frodo gasped as the tall elf picked him up gently, saying, "I am Elrond, young Frodo. Let us get you inside where I can more easily determine what is wrong, all right?"
Frodo nodded mutely as he was brought into a beautiful white pavilion where a table, two chairs sat and several woven rugs were spread. The two elves followed behind the dark-haired elf and quickly cleared the table of dishes. The one candelabra was lit and fresh candles put to the side.
Alarmed at the pale and sweating face of the young hobbit, Elrond lay him on the table to make it easier to examine him.
Another of the elves brought a cushion for Frodo's head and gently took his rucksack and his new brown velveteen jacket.
Elrond bent over the child with a warm smile, his long almost black hair hung in sleek curtains on either side of his beautiful face. "Where does it hurt, little one?"
Frodo moved uncomfortably under the intense scrutiny of the elf lord "My stomach! It has hurt, well since this morning after elevenses. I think I ate too much candy. But, but it does not get any better. It really hurts!! I-I have thrown up already, twice." he added, embarrassed.
The elf lord, in the meantime, had been undoing the youngster's clothing.
Exposing his stomach, Frodo shivered as the cool air hit his skin unexpectedly and Elrond pressed gently with pads of his long slender fingers in several areas. He paused and undid the buttons of Frodo's knickers and gently pulled them down around the child's hips. He continued his examination, his face, serious in its concentration. Frodo, dismayed by having his knickers down started to cry. It reminded him of a particularly bad afternoon when some hobbit children had bullied him into a corner and done the same thing, taunting him mercilessly about being an orphan and wearing hand-me-downs. And they had been his favorite knickers too.
Elrond paused a moment and saw the child's distress. His voice full of warmth, he said, bringing a hand up to wipe away the tears, "I am almost done little one. Do not worry!"
When he got to the lower right quadrant of his abdomen and pressed there, Frodo screamed and began to cry harder. The sharp pain was terrible!
Elrond softly brushed the Frodo's hair off his clammy face. Turning to one of the chairs, he pulled off his folded cape and carefully tucked it around the diminutive form.
" I have to make some preparations little Frodo." He lay his hand on the hobbit's forehead and Frodo found himself relaxing suddenly, and felt as if he was drifting into sleep.
Elrond sighed and went to his chest of medical supplies that one of his companions had brought in. The hobbit's illness was easily explained.
It was appendicitis and would need immediate surgery.
Frodo stirred from his half sleep, when he felt cold air on his skin again. Gentle hands straightened his limbs. Frodo woke further when his head was lifted and he was given sweet, thick syrup to drink. Like all medicines, it tasted strange and he made a face at the flavor. Elrond smiled at the hobbits expression as he put the goblet aside. The elf lord carefully lifted the small one as one of the other elves, pulled the cape off the table and lay several more table clothes atop the one already there. Frodo shivered though he was held closely in the elf lord's arms against his chest.
He was laid back down and Elrond's assistant took off all of Frodo's clothes being mindful of not jostling him. As he was being undressed, Elrond pulled out his satinwood box of surgical implements and selected the scalpel he needed. He also lay out bottles of antiseptic tinctures, bandages and suturing thread and needles.
Frodo, slowly succumbing to the medication he had been given, was uncomfortable lying naked under the clinical scrutiny of the healer.
As he lay there, he began to feel very strange and woolly-headed. He moved his head side-to-side trying to focus on the face of Elrond.
"It is all right little one." Elrond caught Frodo's wandering eyes with his intense grey ones, bright as stars as he stilled the moving head between his slender healer's hands. " The syrup will make you sleep deeply and relax the muscles." He lay a hand again softly on where the pain was worst. He left his hand there for a minute, until Frodo realized he could not feel it, even though he could feel increasing pressure as the elf lord bore down testing for pain.
With a sigh, Frodo succumbed to the concoction whose basis was syrup of poppy and his head rolled to the side, as he fell deeply asleep.
Elrond placed his hand on his forehead once more, to seal him in dreamless slumber.
The elf lord, wearing a long robe, split up the sides for riding, pulled off the outer jerkin to be more comfortable and stood eyeing his patient in dark rose colored trews and a long sleeved grey silk shirt whose sleeves he rolled up above his elbows.
Looking at the elf standing near him with a handful of cloths to dab up the blood to make sure he was ready to assist, Elrond bent over Frodo and began.
Making a sure deep incision through the abdominal wall in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen, Elrond moved to the side, as the assistant calmly laid absorbent cloths to catch the blood. Pulling aside the muscle wall he worked up carefully the end of the large intestine to the surface with its little bit of flesh that was the infected appendix, which he then sliced neatly off.
The assistant took the offending piece of flesh and quickly went and threw it in the fire outside while Elrond took over removing and placing fresh cloths around the wound bleeding freely. Some he dipped into the body cavity to keep that free of blood as well. He also utilized one of his antiseptic tinctures and carefully bathed the small incision. When the assistant returned, he took over, allowing Elrond to thread his needle for suturing.
He used a very small thread for sewing up the end of the large intestine and when he finished with that, he used a thicker thread to carefully sew up the abdominal incision, stitching neatly as he might, to leave Frodo as little a scar as possible.
Once the blood was cleaned off, Elrond gently dabbed antiseptic tincture around the wound and soaked a pad, which he then placed over the stitches. With the help of his assistant, he bandaged the pad in place with several strips of clean linen. Before he put away his supplies, he cleaned and bandaged Frodo's scraped knee as well. When all was done and the signs of surgery cleaned up and put away, Elrond stood looking down at the sleeping hobbit. Laying a hand over the wound, he sent energy deep into the tissue to speed the healing.
Checking Frodo's pulse and respiration and satisfied with their levels, he covered the child and went to wash up himself.